The Ultimate Guide to Using Hashtags to Get Followers on Instagram

Instagram is undoubtedly the preferred social media platform of this generation, but it is also the top marketing tool of this decade as well. As a business, it provides an easy way to access potential customers and grow your e-commerce business. You don’t need to be an expert to reap the benefits, either. All you need to know is how to use hashtags to get followers on Instagram.

Instagram is an invaluable tool that should be a major part of your marketing strategy. This social media platform can be used in a multitude of ways, all of which can increase your sales. The streamlined design makes it easy to promote your products and services to both your current customers and potential ones, too.

The best part?

It also gives you direct access to your target market, allowing you to engage with potential customers on a personal level. The best way to find your target market—and potential customers—is by using hashtags. Hashtags are a powerful way to expand your company’s reach within a matter of seconds (and just a few taps of the keyboard). All you need to do is find the right hashtags to use.

We have compiled the best strategies to gain more followers and likes by way of Instagram hashtags. By the time you’re done reading this article, you will be able to increase your reach (and hopefully your sales) with just a few taps on your smartphone screen.

How to Use Hashtags to Get Followers on Instagram

So you’ve got your business up on Instagram and you’re posting your fabulous products on the regular. Yet, after each post, it seems as if the likes sort of just trickle in, right? If you’re posting at random on a social media platform that is saturated with product photos, then that is to be expected.

Break through all of that online chatter and reach your target market right away. Here are a few ways to do so:

Include popular general hashtags to increase views

To expand your reach the most, consider adding Instagram’s most popular hashtags. Millions of people all over the world are using and viewing these hashtags. Some hashtags will randomly shoot up in popularity while others will stand the test of time. Figure out which ones are trending and which are long-term, then add them to your hashtag list.

While it may be tempting to add all of the hottest hashtags to your pictures in order to get the greatest reach, try to stick with those that are relevant to your brand. For example, the popular hashtag “ootd”, which stands for “outfit of the day”, may not be totally useful if you are selling electronics. Stick with the most popular hashtags that are also applicable to your brand.

Add highly-relevant hashtags to reach your target market

This is where social media marketing gets juicy. Just like in traditional marketing, in order to have immediate access to your potential customers, you need to be able to figure out exactly what they want. The best way to do this is by researching which hashtags are most successful in among your target market.

If you have an Instagram account for a plant shop, for example, then you will likely be including hashtags such as #plants or #flowers. These hashtags, while totally relevant, can easily get lost in the shuffle. Instead, consider narrowing your specificity so that your hashtags can tell your target audience exactly what you have to offer. In this case, #flowershop, #plantshop, #succulents, #gardening, and #urbanjungle will provide a greater and more specific reach.

Use social media marketing tools to help you discover the right hashtags

Now that you know how to use your hashtags in order to increase your reach, it’s time to get down to finding the right hashtags. You can easily click around Instagram to find what comparable businesses are using, but that may take a lot of unnecessary time and effort.

Instead, lighten your workload by using a hashtag analytical tool for Instagram. This way, you can get right back to managing your brand full-time.

The Best Tools for Hashtags to Get More Likes on Instagram

Simply Measured

Simply Measured is an analytical tool that helps you better understand which hashtags are working for your current following. You will be able to closely monitor how effective your hashtag selection is at increasing engagement and brand reach by taking a look at the Charts tab within the platform.

The platform will even recommend the best time of day to post according to your highest engagement from your existing followers.

Simply Measured offers a wide variety of services that can help the social media marketer better manage an effective campaign. The hashtag analysis is perhaps the most critical aspect of the entire platform as it allows you to adapt your strategy in real time.

Iconosquare

Iconosquare is one of the original Instagram management tools, which means that they have had quite a bit of time to fine-tune their product. Their clean platform provides detailed insights for both hashtags all over Instagram as well as your Instagram account.

This allows you to track the performance of certain hashtags and captions based on a variety of things, including the time of day that you post, the day of the week, and by what media form. The best aspect is that you can then monitor the average engagement per hashtag so that you know which will bring you the best results.

Hashtagify

Hashtagify is a great resource for imitating or connecting with influencers, as well as understanding the behavior of your target audience.

Their new 3.0 Beta program allows you to test out their newest service at no cost. Simply put in your target hashtag and allow Hashtagify to scrape all of the data for both Instagram and Twitter. Within one day you will get a comprehensive report that details the behavior of your target audience.

If you scroll down the page, you will find rich and detailed data about the top influencers who are using your selected hashtag. This includes which other hashtags the influencer uses, who follows the influencer, and how those followers engage with each hashtag.

This is especially helpful to follow as you focus on increasing your brand awareness. This data allows you to reach exactly the audience that is already interested in your niche. This is also the best way to determine which hashtags you might use for our own tool that automatically engages with your target audience.

Now that you’ve got all of your hashtags ready to go, do a quick headcount. If you have more than 30, then figure out which hashtags you can eliminate. Instagram has a limit on the number of hashtags you can include in one post. So don’t overstuff your post with non-essential hashtags.

Take your e-commerce business to the next level with hashtags. Once you dial in on your target market, you will see more followers on your page. Don’t forget to interact with them, though! Take this opportunity to let your customers fall in love with your brand by engaging with them regularly. After all, that’s the social part of social media.

Being social on social media can be a bit tricky and that is where we come in. With Growr, all you have to do is input which hashtags you would like to engage with and let our app do the rest. It will systematically like photos with your listed hashtags so that your brand can engage with your target market even when you can’t. Let us help you get more likes and followers the easy way.